(Reuters) - AbbVie Inc's chief scientific officer will be retiring in the next few months and will be involved in the process of naming a successor, the pharmaceutical company said in a regulatory filing on Friday.

Chief Scientific Officer John M. Leonard, served in the Pharmaceuticals, Research and Development department for Abbott Laboratories before the branded pharmaceuticals business was spun off as AbbVie in November 2012. (http://r.reuters.com/zuj97t)

Leonard who joined Abbott in 1992, was also the Senior Vice President for AbbVie received $5.5 million as compensation for 2012.

AbbVie, which posted a strong first quarter on strong sales of its Humira treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, expects to launch new treatments for hepatitis C by early 2015.

AbbVie's shares closed at $45.01 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.